The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-02-25
MARRIAGE IN CHINA,



"a Chinese love letter! Have l any
old-fashioned Chinese love letters in
my trunk? Have | g~ilt-edged Chinese
billot-doux with q monogram like q
cows track? There was never a love
letter written in Chinese. No Chinese
maiden ever penned a billet-doux or
sent a valentine"
Rather sadly was this said by a ro-
mantle young Chinaman, Mr.. Hong
Wing, who is noted among the Chinese
for the skill with which he plays on
the mandolin.
"In China" continued he, "a man
never sees his wife until he is welded
to her for life, and sometimes he does
not see her then, for she may refuse to
remove her veil until three days have
elapsed after the wedding. II he
doesn't like her he cannot get q d.
vOrce, but he may marry another
wife, and then another, until he has
gone through the blindfold lottery
often enough to get one that suits
him. Some of these Chinese Crmsuses
have hundreds of wives. There was
an old bachelor who took it into his
head to get married one winter, and
he married two hundred wives before
he got through. The last wife is the
faVOrite, but the first one is the boss"
"lf q man never sees his wife before
their wedding, how does he make love
to herr"
"He doesn't make love to her. His
mother arranges the match, and his
future mOther-in-law makes love to
him. 1t is a sOur COurtship. Children
are formally engaged to other children
that they haven ever seen, at the tender
age OF 8 or 10, and after an ers~ge-
ment of ten or twelve years, they get
married."
Does a Chinaman ever marry his
cousin?"
"No, a marriage OF cousins wasnev-
er heard of in China. A man may no
more marry his cousin in China than
in England a man may marry his de-
ceased wife's sister. You talk about
your old families here, and your old
families are only five generations old.
In China families are seventy
five and eighty generations old,
and every member has a COM
plete record of his ancestors for
all these generations. The remotest
kinship prevents marriages in China,
and if two families have the faintest
imaginable kinship seventy-fve gener-
atoms back their children cannot
marry.
What are the most common fami-
lies in your country"
THE Chens, the Wongs and the
Lees. The Chens are the Smiths of
China, the Wongs are the Joneses, and
the Lees are the Browns. A Mr.. Chen
would marry a Miss Wong, but he
wouldn't marry a Miss Chen. Per
haps that is the reason why the old
folks make the matches. It prevents
the Cheus from falling in love with
one another"
Are the Chinese ladies cultivated?"
"Oh, yes; they can read and write,
draw, paint and embroider. They
never go out on the street with
their husbands. If a Chinese
man and woman were to walk on the
street arm-in-arm in their country as
American men and women do, they
would be mobed. The women stay in
doors. Ifthey wish to visit their moth
:ers they take conveyances. Sometimes
they may be seem walking in the park
with their children"
you are married."
eyes"
ITO a Chinese lady?"
mo; to an American. / Came to
this country when but IL years old.
Though / was 9,0o0 milesfrom China,
my mother betrothed me to a little
Chinese girl l had mover seen. My
mother usedto write TO me how small
her feet were, how pretty she was, and
what q beautiful cat-like nose she had.
When l was 90 years old mother sent
me a letter, saying I was old enough
to get married, and must come back
to China and marry the girl"
What did you think about itf'
II thought / was old enough, and
SC fell heels over cue in love with an
American girl in Nevada, and married
her. We had our pictures taken, and
/ sent one to my mother, together
with an account of the wedding, which
/ translated from an American paper
INTO Chinese"
What happenedg"
"The next thing / knew my uncle
and four cousins came on to United
States and had me arrested for bigamy.
| was taken before q court and tried.
My uncle went on the stand and swore
that | had a wife in China
"Whatdid you do Them"
81 thought i was in a box, as you
Americans say. The Judge asked the
witnesses how old / was when | left